Galatians 1:11-24

Expanded Bible

Paul’s Authority Is from God

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the ·Good News [Gospel] I preached to you was not ·made up by human beings [devised by man; of human origin]. ¹² I did not get it from ·humans [a human source; man], nor did anyone teach it to me, but ·Jesus Christ showed it to me [^Lby a revelation of/from/about Jesus Christ; Acts 9].

¹³ [^LFor] You have heard about my past life in the Jewish religion. I ·attacked [intensely/severely persecuted] the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was ·becoming a leader in the Jewish religion [^Ladvancing/progressing in Judaism], doing better than most other Jews of my age. I ·tried harder than anyone else [was exceedingly zealous] to follow the ·teachings handed down by our [traditions of my] ·ancestors [forefathers].

¹⁵ But God ·set me apart [or chose/appointed me] for his work ·even before I was born [^Lfrom my mother’s womb]. He called me through his grace ¹⁶ and ·showed [revealed] his son to me so that I might ·tell the Good News [preach the Gospel] about him to the Gentiles [Acts 9:15; 22:21]. When God called me, I did not ·get advice or help from [confer/consult with] ·any person [^Lflesh and blood]. ¹⁷ I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. ·But [Instead; Rather] I went away to Arabia [^Cprobably the Nabatean kingdom south of Damascus] and later went back to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to ·meet [get to know; or confer with; gain information from] ·Peter [^LCephas, Peter’s name in Aramaic; John 1:42] and stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ I ·met [or saw] no other apostles, except James [Acts 12:17; 15:13–21; 21:18; James 1:1], the brother of the Lord. ²⁰ ·God knows that [or I swear before God that; ^LBefore God,] these things I write are not lies. ²¹ Later, I went to the areas of Syria [^Ca Roman province north of Israel] and Cilicia [^Ca Roman province in present-day southeastern Turkey; Paul’s hometown Tarsus was in Cilicia].

²² In Judea the churches in Christ had never met me. ²³ They had only heard it said, “This man who was ·attacking [persecuting] us is now preaching the same faith that he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And these believers ·praised [glorified] God because of me.